Pen nib



.chorage. this tail portion is very small, whilst the reaction Patented Sept. 16, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Horace Roderic ljfgifilcester, England I Application February 20, 1939, Serial No. 257,50 a In Great Britain June 25, 1938 V i 3 4 Claims. (Cl; 120-114) V This invention relates to reservoir nibs of the type in which a plate or member is pivoted to the nib so that the front of the plate bears on the pointed end of the nib, on the underside, with spring pressure. ,In one previous construction,

the'rear; portion of the plate or member, immediately behind the pivot anchorage to the nib, is curved upwardly and then downwardly so that tip of this curled spring tail piece bears on the nib only a short distance behind the pivot an- The leverage of the spring pressure of to any slight movement of the front portion of the plate will not produce an even deflection of the tail portion of the spring throughout the length of its curved portion. Moreover the difiiculty of producing a curled spring to an exact shape would prevent any reliability of getting the required predetermined delicate pressure on the pointed end of the nib throughout the range of the flexing movement of the pointed end of the nib whilst writing. In a further previously proposed construction, the plate or member ha an arm in front of the pivot anchorage which bears with spring pressure on the pointed end of the nib and a portion at the rear of the anchorage bearing on an abutment to apply the said spring pressure, but this rear portion is of such a short length that it does not form a spring arm and the pressure on the abutment would be considerably reduced or increased by pivotal movement of the front spring arm. In these prior constructions, the main purpose of the pivot anchorage is to permit of the reservoir plate or member to open away from the nib. Moreover in all the abovementioned constructions the mechanisms block the way for the insertion of the feedbar of a fountain pen.

This invention has for its object a reservoir plate or member the tail piece of which is so con 7 further object is to construct and apply the plate or member so that it is a practical form of manufacture which ensures that the plate or member will be applied with the required-spring pressure.

According to the present invention, the plate or member'is in the form of aleaf spring having a rocking anchorage intermediate its ends and the rear arm of the spring is evenly flexed throughout its length "and thus enables a substantially unvarying pressure to be obtained throughout the flexing movement of the nib. Furthermore as the shape of the spring can be manufactured to have a uniform shape and as it is-flexed a predetermined extent when applied to the pen, it is quite practical to obtain the required pressure of contact and in such a manner that the delicate contact pressure is obtained throughout the flexing movement of the nib. The rear arm of the spring extending throughout itslength in the direction of the nib gives a considerable leverage between the point of anchorage and the end of the arm bearing on the nib; or abutment and therefore enables the spring control to be readily arranged with the required sensitiveness and pressure,

Referring-to the drawing Figure 1 is a face within the required limits of View of a pen nib-constructed according to this invention. v

Figure 2 is a side elevation of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a section on line IIIIII of Figure 1, Figure 4 isa face view ofa modified form of pennib,

Figure 5 is asection on line VV of Figure 4. Figure 6 is a face view of a pen nib for use with 1 a fountain pen.

Figure 7 is a section on line VII-VII of Figmember l is fixed to the underside of the nib 2,

the plate, intermediate its length, having tongues 3 which form trunnions engaging perforations 4 in the sides of the nib. A forwardly projecting arm la and a rearwardly projecting arm lb are thereby formed, the ends of which respectively bear on the front pointed end 5 of the nib and on the heel of the nib. The plate I is bow shaped longitudinally and conveniently the plate is bent locally along the lines 6 at intervals along its length. The rear end of the arm lb, in the particular construction of nib shown, bears on the nib.

The plate I is thus not rigidly anchored to the nib but is free to pivot locally on the tongues 3.

substantially flatportion 1 in the channel of the of the pointed end of the nib when flexed in writing, thereby making effective contact with the nib under all working conditions.

Any flexing of the arm lawill also flexthe arm lb as the plate is free to anchorage.

move at its point of The pen nib may be of any design and the i plate I can contact with the pointed end .portion of the nib in accordance with the design of the reservoir nib. The plate I may be perforated and of any suitable shape, and asshown by Figure 1, may be bifurcated at the front end, so that a separate contact is made on each side of the split in the nib. The mounted end of the plate will therefore not catch in the split.

In the construction shown by Figures4 and 5, the portion of the spring plate 8 rearwardly of the pivot anchorage is further weakened 'to in-1 crease the flexibility of the plate, andfor this purpose a slit'9 is cut in the'plate so that the strength of the sidestrips Hi form thestrength of the rear portion ofthe springplate 8. In the form of pen shown by Figures l and 5, the move ment of the front end of the spring plate will be greater than the movement of the front of the plate in the construction of pen shown by Figure l.' As the spring plate 8 (Figure 4) is weakened it will be capable of a greater range of movement is adaptedto be supported in such a manner that the ink feed bar of a fountainlpen can passthereunder to project into the space between the plate It and the nib 12. For this purpose the end of the plate rearwardly of the pivot anchorage is provided with projections I 3 which'fare adapted to bear on the edges on each side of the nib. Alternatively the rear end of the spring plate II could rest on the feed bar itself. 'In this construction a portion of the spring plate rearward- 1y of the pivot anchorage is weakened by a U- shaped slot I4, the width of the slot being as small as can conveniently be made by a piercing process. the spring, a balanced effect is obtained as both arms are in tension on each side of the plate. The'tongues of metal I5 (Figures 4 and 6) also form an effective cover for the space between thefplate and the nib. According to a modified form shown by Figure 8, the rear portion of the spring plate behind the pivots I6 is weakened by forming such rear portion as a narrow strip H, the end of this strip terminating in a cross'piece l8 for hearing on the side edges of the pen at the heel thereof. Figure 9 shows a spring plate similar in construction to the spring plate shown by By thus weakening the rear portion of I I claim:

1. A pen nib, having a metal plate or member pivotally mounted on the nib so that its forward end presses on the underside of the pointed end of the nib and its rear end presses on the side edges of the nib rearwardly of the pivot anchorage so as to form flexible spring arms extending rearwardly and forwardly of the anchorage, which anchorage is such that the two arms are interdependently flexible to form a single spring member, so that the front end of the plate bears with light pressure on the nib and at the same time follows the flexing movement of the nib and maintains a light pressure thereon, a space being formed between the plate and the underside of the nib into which the ink feeder bar of a fountain pen can be inserted.

2. A reservoir pen nib, having a metal plate or member rockably mounted on the nib so that it is permanently fixed with its forward end spring pressing on the underside of the pointed end of the nib and its rear end pressing on an abutment rearwardly of the rocking anchorage and permitting an ink feed bar to be positioned between the 'metal plate and the underside of the nib so as to form an arm extending forwardly of the anchorage .and'a spring arm forming a leaf spring extending rearwardly of the anchorage and so that the full length extends longitudinally of the nib, which anchorage is such that the two arms are interdependently flexible to form a single spring member, whereby the front end of the plate bears with light pressure on the nib and at'the same time follows the flexing movement of .the nib and maintains a light pressure thereon throughout the flexing movement of the nib.

3. A reservoir pen nib, having a metal plate or member rockably mounted on the nib so that it is permanently fixed with its forward end pressing on the underside of the pointed end of the nib and its rear end pressing on an abutment rearwardly of the pivot so as to form a flexible spring arm extending forwardly of the anchorage and a spring arm forming a leaf spring extending rearwardly of the anchorage and so that the full length extends longitudinally of the nib, which anchorage is such that the two arms are interdependently flexible to form a single spring member, the'part of the plate rearwardly of the pivot anchorage having a .U -s1ot therein to increase the flexibility of the plate.

' 4. A reservoir pen nib, having a metal plate or member rockably mounted on the nib so that it is permanently fixed with its forward end pressing on the underside of the pointed end of the nib and its rear end pressing on an abutment rearwardly of the rocking anchorageand permitting an ink feed bar to be positioned between the metal plate and the underside of the nib so as to form a flexible spring arm extending forwardly of the anchorage and a spring arm forming a leaf spring extending rearwardly of the anchorage of Weaker strength than the arm extending forwardly of the anchorage and so that the full length extend longitudinally of the nib, which anchorage is such that the two arms are interdependently flexible to form a single sprin member, whereby the front end of the plate bears with light pressure on the nib and at the same time follows the flexing movement of the nib and maintains a light pressure thereon throughout the flexing movement of the nib.

HORACE RODERIC HUGHES. 

